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If you’ve ever had acid reflux, you know it can be extremely painful and debilitating and keep you up all night trying to find a way to get rid of the condition. It could be that you’ve gone overboard and eaten something that was so spicy it is wreaking havoc on your insides, or you may find that you’re suddenly suffering from what is known as ‘Silent Reflux’ – this one is scary.

Just ask Kelli Minson of Houston, Texas, who I interviewed recently regarding an invention she came up with to help those who suffer from acid reflux disease, GERD and a whole host of other medical problems where a person needs to sleep in an incline position.

Kelli Minson's Story on Silent Reflux

Kelli Minson’s husband couldn’t sleep. As an emergency room physician, this was a fairly uncommon occurrence from the long hours at work. But, when he awakened at four in the morning, and woke Kelli up holding up a handwritten note that read ‘Dial 911’ her first question to him was whether or not this was a drill, since her husband is also a first responder.

Matt was suffocating…

Kelli dialed the phone Matt jotted down a short message for the paramedics in the event he went unconscious before they got there. In the emergency room, they were told by the ENT doctor that Kelli’s husband’s problem was an swollen larynx, which was caused by Silent Reflux Disease. The doctor told them that her husband’s vocal chords looked like uncooked hamburger meat. Matt had never experienced any of the typical signs or symptoms of Reflux until this near fatal episode. The doctor then explained that it was a miracle her husband survived.

When Matt was released from the hospital, they were told that he would have to take what turned out to be a very expensive prescription medication and that he must sleep with his head elevated in a straight line a minimum of 7 inches from head to toe. Achieving an elevated sleeping position was much more difficult than they thought.

The Minsons experimented with everything trying to achieve the positioning the Doctor recommended for head elevated sleeping: piled pillows, wedges, using a recliner, but nothing allowed Kelli’s husband to achieve the rest he critically needed to feel better. Had she not listened to the doctors’ words – “Head elevated in a straight line” she would not have begun constructing her own head elevated sleeping surface for Matt.

“I started reading everything I could get my hands on about Reflux and GERD. It was a Johns Hopkins Health Alert on Reflux that convinced me to develop and patent my idea,” explains Kelli.

“After I read the Johns Hopkins report I knew I was doing everything I could to help keep his reflux under control. My initial prototype constructed from things around our house was working and Matt was living proof. I sat down at my computer and took a tutorial on writing and filing your own patent and a few days later, I did just that. “

The Gravity1st Elevated Sleep System

And The Gravity1st Elevated Sleep System™ mattress was born. The mattress creates the linear angle and drop for people who require the aid of gravity to rest, allowing him or her to sleep on their back, side or stomach as they otherwise normally would. Soon, they began hearing from different people all across the country who suffered from a variety of problems and conditions that prevented them from achieving rest while lying flat, but who had tried Gravity1st™ in desperation and were finally receiving that good night of sleep they needed.

If you or someone you know is suffering sleepless nights and pain from acid reflux or GERD, visit the Gravity1st website at www.gravity1st.com.